April 25, 2007
To Shungar: Room above Muslim Restaurant
This is almost the end of the third week from Deqin to Lhasa. We only have taken one official rest day and a ride over Gondala Pass with the snow and ice...the plan was to take shorter easier days instead of rest days...But some of those days were anything but easy. Today is a gradual uphill 3800 meters to 4300...continuing to follow the river and through a canyon.
We wake to overcast skies; it has rained most of the night off and on and now throughout the day there are sprinkles. There are few villages to pass through, we see few people along the road. We reach town about 130pm. Patrick sets off to find a room, just as rain then sleet starts. It lets up a bit, we ride back to the other end of town where Patrick found a "Tibetan style" guesthouse with the aid of a guy from Shanghai who is riding in a police car to Lhasa.
The room is one large room with 5 Tibetan beds (single beds with one side and a wooden padded frame like a headboard. Patrick pays 40 yuan for the whole room. People help us shuttle our gear up to the room. It's cold, so we settle into our sleeping bags to read, just as the weather starts raining/sleeting/small hail, turning the nearby hills white.
Late afternoon, the sun comes out and the white is gone from the hills, there are small patches of blue sky. People stop by the room and stare at us. Patrick shows them the Tibetan map and our bikes. For dinner we go to a restaurant where a tour bus has stopped and have scrambled eggs/tomato dish and shredded potatoes. Then we are back in the room, in our sleeping bags trying to stay warm. We are brought a candle by the owners, there's a single strung lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling but we can't locate the switch, so we probably do need the candle, and our headlamps.
Tomorrow is the final pass to Lhasa and we are looking forward to the hot springs at its base.
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Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 8,506 km (5,282 miles)
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